


High Noon at Midnight

by kittysauces



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrigami reference, Love Square is End Game, Lukanette reference, No beta reader, No goldfish were harmed in the making of this fic, Playing in the Mud, Post Reveal, Pre Relationship, We Die Like Men, best friend to lovers, prpr, two dorks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittysauces/pseuds/kittysauces
Summary: When both Marinette and Adrien miss the final school dance of lycee, the two find themselves wandering the dark streets of Paris. They must come to terms with the complicated feelings they hold for their partner as they stumble through a ruined night together.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 38
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

It was moments like this that made being Ladybug hard. 

Marinette detransfromed as soon as her feet hit the ground, knowing full well that she was far too late, yet still hoping that there might be some chance. 

“Marinette…” Tikki warned gently as Marinette thrashed about, grabbing at and quickly unclasping the small clutch she had at her hip, digging out the only two items, a somewhat crushed macaron and her phone. 

“I know, Tikki.” Marinette’s shoulders slumped down as she tossed the macaron to her kwami and gathered her humongous skirt around herself, jogging out of the alleyway. As she ran she looked at her phone, clutching the swaying layers of fabric around her legs in one hand. 

_ Yikes. _

A missed call from each of her parents. Eight missed calls from Alya. Three missed calls from Luka. Even a missed call from Kagami. 

Marinette cringed, swiping to her text messages, which numbered nearly thirty.

**Alya: Girl! Where are you? Luka can’t get in because you have his ticket!**

**Alya: Please tell me you are okay? I know you’re a spaz, but this is unlike you!**

**Alya: Call me when you get this so that I know you are okay!!!**

_ Shiiiii- Shoot. I totally forgot I had Luka’s ticket. It’s going to be okay! Right? They will all still be there. Right? _

Marinnette pushed herself even harder, cutting through dirty puddles and barely checking for cars as she crashed through the silent streets.

**Luka: Hey, my melody are you okay? I’m a bit worried.**

**Luka: Just heard about an akuma: steer clear of the Seine!**

**Luka: Uhm? The dance is almost over so I think I’m going to head home… please call me when you get this.**

Marinette nearly tripped on the cobblestones beneath her feet, her phone tipping out of her hand and scattering across the ground, accompanied by a sickening crunch.

“Marinette! You have to be more careful!” Tikki chided, flying down and scooping up the phone, which had a new crack running along it’s face.

_ Well isn't that just the cherry on top of the pie!!! _

“I know! I JUST! I missed the last dance of lycee and I let Luka down!” Marinnete could hear the way her frustration bubbled out of her voice and could feel hot tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. She paused, clutching her fists, standing in the middle of the dark street. Long shadows stretched across the billowing, blush pink clouds of her skirt. She had hand stitched every last seam, it was her new masterpiece. Now, gazing down, she could see that the bottom hem was soaked with mud and she could feel the start of blisters on her feet from running in her heels. She wilted, nearly sitting in the middle of the dark street, frustration and helplessness coursing through her.

So yeah, being Ladybug was not ideal at the moment.

“Marinette, we’ve talked about this before. Being Ladybug is a huge responsibility! Sometimes you have to give up other things! Like friends or dances or being there for your boyfriend!” Tikki squeaked, placing Marinette’s phone into her quivering hands and pressing her tiny paws against Marinette’s cheek.

Marinette sighed quietly.

“I know that Tikki. And I know that being Ladybug is more important.” Marinette slowly brushed dirt off of her phone screen.

“And Luka’s not my boyfriend!” She added, fully processing Tikki’s implication.

“Yeah, I wonder why?” Tikki replied, a cheeky grin that was rarely seen on the sweet kwami spreading across her face as her eyes glinted knowingly.

_ So what if she planned to go to the dance with Luka? Friends go to the dance together all the time! And so what if he calls her his melody? That’s... _

Marinette gathered herself, too stubborn to let her tears fall, and straightened, examining her phone. 

**Kagami: Have you seen Adrien? Is he with you?**

**Kagami: I just found out you’re also MIA. Let us know if you find him and please be safe.**

_ Oh right. _

__

_~_

_ It was moments like this that made being Chat Noir even harder. _

__

Adrien could deal with the residual aches and bruises. He could deal with missing events with friends and losing sleep. He could even deal with hiding his double life from his father. Truth is, he would do anything to keep being Chat Noir.

__

_ This one is new though. _

__

A string of tough akumas, relentlessly beating up Paris’ crime fighting duo. The common theme? People that were upset about a school dance.  _ Their  _ school dance.  _ Their last  _ school dance of lycee.

__

_ Great. _

__

Which is how Adrien found himself on the front steps of their school, profusely texting their friends and his date.

__

Kagami had asked him to the dance as friends and he had accepted. He did truly like her, however Adrien was hesitant to push the relationship any further, a fact that clearly frustrated Kagami. The breaking point had been the sudden explosiveness of Adrien and Marinette’s friendship. Rather than awkward and nervous, the two were suddenly rowdy and rambunctious, hanging off each other as they laughed so hard they cried. 

__

After all, it was simple to bond as soon as they both knew that the other was their best friend and crime fighting partner. With just a look, he could determine all the different methods Marinette was considering to dunk Lila’s head into a nearby trash can, lips puckered and eyes narrowed like she was working out a Lucky Charm. She could see, in a lightning fast wink and a subtle tilt of the head, that Adrien was already planning a long list of puns about the situation around them, waiting to slide up next to her and whisper them under his breath, making her laugh until she swore she could see little black ears on his head.

__

Of course, Kagami could only take so many inside jokes and mind reading moments. She had snapped, confronting Adrien, who had explained his confused feelings to the best of his ability. 

__

“I really do like you Kagami, but Marinette is important to me in a different kind of way.”

__

Kagami had slunk away, returning after a week of silence, stating she was willing to wait. 

__

Adrien ducked his head when he thought of that, shame painting his cheeks. 

__

_ I know what it is like to wait for someone who will never come. _

____

__~_ _

__

__ Walking stiffly, heels and shattered phone clasped in her hands, Marinette finally arrived at the school, and that’s where she found Adrien. He sat on the front steps of their lycee, chin propped in his hands, elbows on his knees, staring down at his toes. Even after fighting for who knows how long, his hair was immaculately styled into a smooth golden wave on top of his head._ _

____

_ Classic Adrien. _

____

His hair caught the low light from the nearby streetlights, casting dark shadows across his face, preventing her from reading his emotions. But the lights did not obscure the disheartened tilt of the boy’s shoulders inside of his perfectly tailored black suit. Something about his brooding pose and his impeccable fashion choice reminded her of someone she knew.

____

“Huh, you almost look like Gabriel Agreste’s son!” She called out, surprising herself with the way her voice bounced and echoed through the empty streets as she crossed towards him.

____

Adrien’s head popped up, bewildered for just a moment before his green eyes landed on her, taking in her wind torn hair and slowly deteriorating ball gown.

____

“I was about to say that you looked like a beautiful young designer with a bright future ahead of her, but maybe I just changed my mind!” He called back without a moment of hesitation.

____

“Gasp! How dare you!” Marinette teasingly replied, arriving just in front of him at the bottom of the steps.

____

“Pigtails! You got any cheese?!” A flash of black zoomed from Adrien’s breast pocket, revealing a grumpy looking Plagg.

____

“Loverboy here neglected to bring some because Swordgirl might find it.” Plagg whined, zipping back and forth in front of her face, tail whipping ferociously.

____

“What he means,” Adrien cut in smoothly, “Is that I only had room to hide one slice of camembert on my person without Kagami noticing it or him.”

____

Marinette focused on keeping her face neutral at the mention of Adrien’s date. Kagami had been less and less willing to hang out with her since she and Adrien had discovered each other’s identities and had grown closer. Sometimes, Marinette felt a burning jealousy directed towards her whenever she and Adrien were goofing off around the serious girl.

____

Which was fair considering the fact that Marinette herself could hardly keep her heart quiet when he casually threw an arm over her shoulder and purred a cat pun into her ear.

____

_ Woah, focus! _

____

Marinette drew herself up, shaking the thought from her head and plastering a smile onto her face.

____

“Well then, let’s go get something to eat!”

____

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Struggling to find a shred of motivation to finish this story


	2. Chapter 2

_ As it turns out, there are not many places nearby to eat at. _

It took Adrien only a single glance at Marinette to know that going to the bakery was not an option. As soon as he mentioned it, her shoulders tensed and her brows furrowed as she stretched her brain for a reason they couldn’t go.

“Actually, nevermind. There’s a convenience store two blocks over…?” Adrien quickly cut in.

Any question he had about why she was avoiding the bakery was erased as he watched the way relief rolled through her features. Who was he to judge anyways? He was not looking forward to explaining the situation to his father later that night.

So that’s how Adrien Agreste found himself strolling through the damp, empty streets of Paris with his best friend. Somehow, he ended up carrying Marinette’s heels as she cradled the bunched up layers of her humongous skirt. Tikki and Plagg were nestled on top of Adrien’s head, hiding from the night chill and ruining his hairstyle. Adrien couldn’t bring himself to mind as he watched Marinette skip ahead of him, haloed by the streetlights as she hopped from foot to foot, complaining about how cold the cobblestone streets were getting.

“Awe Princess, do you need your kitty to come warm you up?” Adrien purred, a very Chat-like smirk spreading across his face.

“No, but I do need my kitty to walk faster!” Marinette quipped back, eyes glinting as she whirled around to face him and popped a hip out.

Adrien could feel his ribs straining to contain the thundering pulse of his heart. Marinette’s midnight blue hair was frazzled, random pieces having wiggled out of her elegant updo, falling gently around her face. Her dress was still ridiculously bunched in her slender arms, revealing the pale skin of her legs and her bare feet on the cobblestones below. The streetlights around them caught in her eyes, twinkling back like stars shining out of the bright blue. 

_ Like stars at noon. _

Adrien had to look away and laugh before either his chest burst open or he confessed his heart and soul to the girl. His eyes found the dark sky.

_ It looks like it’s gonna rain. _

“Oh, you’re laughing now, but just wait until I come over there and unleash my rage!” Marinette teased, dashing toward Adrien.

Before he could even think, Adrien had tossed her heels to the side, turning back towards the cloud of pink rapidly barreling towards him. 

When they had first started interacting after the reveal, Marinette had carried a hesitance around Adrien that she did not around Chat. It had driven him insane, to the point of confronting her on a rooftop, detransforming and demanding that Ladybug tackle him to the ground right then and there. She had tackled him without a moment of hesitation, nagging him about detranforming in broad daylight, but Adrien had simply laid pinned below her, watching the way her brow pinched with worry as she checked if anyone saw them. From then on, whenever he made a particularly bad pun or Alya gave Marinette a knowing look, rather than standing shock still and turning red, Marinette tended to tackle Adrien to the ground.

In other words, Adrien was a pro at catching Marinette by now. Unfortunately, no one warned him that he was currently standing on a patch of slippery mud. He found out soon enough though, as Marinette tackled him lightly and his feet immediately flew out from underneath him. He landed with a huff in the puddle of mud, complaining kwamis shooting out from his hair. 

“Oh! Are you okay?” Marinette sat above him, eyes wide. Adrien tried not to think about her hands pinning his shoulders down or his hands at her waist. She sat up, away from him, hands flying up into the air, waving in panicky motions.

“I didn’t mean to tackle you hard! I swear! Are you hurt? Did you hit your head? Are you going to be okay?!! What am I going to tell-“

“Looks like I’ve fallen for you  _ purr _ incess~” Adrien cut off Marinette’s worried rambling. 

Marinette’s mouth slowly shut, all worry gone as her eyes turned back to Adrien’s, burning with playful fury.

_ Uh oh.  _

Adrien didn’t have a moment to react before Marinette gathered a handful of mud from beside his head and smashed it onto his face. Her laughter rang through the empty streets as she smeared the dark mud across his checks and mouth. Not to be outdone, Adrien’s hands quickly found their own handfuls of slime, grabbing at her wrists and sliding up towards her shoulders, coating her bare arms in cold mud. Marinette shrieked playfully, rolling off of Adrien, out of his reach. He quickly sat up, dislodging himself from the mud he was pressed down in but froze when he spotted Marinette standing a few feet away. He burst out laughing at the way she was staring at her own arms, which hung out in front of her, dripping black gunk. 

“You!” She pointed at him, fighting to keep a smile off her face. “You mangy alley cat!” She lost the fight, laughter bubbling out of her.

“You wound me, M’lady!” Adrien sung out dramatically as he pushed to his feet, stepping closer to Marinette.

Marinette caught sight of him and froze. Eyes wide and mouth formed somewhere between an o of surprise and a smile, she stared as his head. She burst out laughing again, this time uncontrollably gasping for air, tears peaking at the corners of her eyes. Adrien laughed with her, hands quickly discovering that his entire back side was coated with thick mud. He leaned against her, arm slinging around her shoulders as they laughed into the empty night air.

“Your…” she whispered between laughs, clutching at her belly, fully in tears now. “Your... hair!” Laughter burst out of her at this, sounding nearly painful in its force.

Through his laughs, Adrien’s free hand found his head. The back of his head was coated thoroughly with mud, chunks of it sliding down onto the shoulders of his suit as he shook with laughter. However, he soon found what she was losing her mind over. The hair that had escaped the mud was pressed forward, spackled into standing straight up on his head. His hair was forming a tall Mohawk that ran from ear to ear across the crown of his head. 

_ I look like a gold and brown peacock. _

Marinette’s knees buckled, Adrien barely keeping her upright through his own laughs.

_ Oops, didn’t mean to say that out loud. _

They stood, clinging to one another and laughing until the worries of the world vanished into the midnight sky and their hearts beat as one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna cry.... Thank you everyone who commented or left kudos. That was way more than a crumb of encouragement! Y’all filled me with love and now I will give it back in the form of these two dorks. Looking at maybe 4 chapters now? This was supposed to be the first half of Chapter 2 but it ended up being a lot longer than I planned! I hope you all like it!!! Thank you again for the encouragement!!! Have a nice day! :)


	3. Chapter 3

It was moments like this that made being Ladybug easy. 

Laughter tumbled out of Marinette the moment she attempted to step through the doorway of the convenience store. Adrien, standing just ahead of her, spun around to see the way her dress’s ginormous skirt was wedged in the thin opening. At the sight of Marinette, he burst out laughing so hard the man behind the counter jumped. Marinette flailed her arms, attempting to shove her skirt through, watching as the man turned to stare, gazing at her from over a large fish tank beside him. The fat goldfish inside the tank seemed to be staring at her as well.

Normally, Marinette would have gone red from embarrassment and ran from the way the man’s eyes gazed over her, but Adrien’s laughter cut through the cold pit in her stomach like it was made of sunshine.

Haloed by the artificial lights overhead, his head was tipped back, eyes screwed shut with laughter. Clumps of drying mud fell onto his shoulders as he shook gently and his tie was undone, hanging around his neck.

Suddenly, it wasn’t so bad that her beautiful dress was ruined by akumas, or that her friends were mad at her, or that she was starving. None of it mattered when Adrien lifted one eyebrow and smirked like Chat Noir did before he told her a terrible pun.

”I think I better sell my fly-swatter” Adrien made eye contact with Marinette, winking slyly, “If this is all we need to catch bugs.”

Marinette groaned, fighting back laughter.

“Now, that was a bad one.” She stuck her tongue out teasingly.

Adrien carefully grabbed her flailing hands, tugging inwards. 

“Eh, I’m working out the bugs on that one, m’lady.”

Marinette’s dress gave way and she flew forward, into Adrien’s chest. He was more than ready to catch her this time, grabbing her by the waist and swinging her to the side to avoid a small display set up near the door, before placing her feet back on the ground. 

The man behind the counter and the fat goldfish watched avidly, fully absorbed by the strange puns and appearances of their late night guests. 

Marinette watched as Adrien turned to address the man, aware as always, of the people around them.

“Good evening, Monsieur!” He said politely, tilting his head toward the shocked man. Marinette elbowed him gently, nodding at the clock that ticked silently on the back wall.

“Pardon me” Adrien quickly corrected, “Good morning, Monsieur!” 

Before he had finished his sentence, Marinette strode deeper into the store, scanning the selves for the sweetest thing she could find, the gooiest cheese, and something for Adrien and herself to eat. 

_ Should I get us a tub of ice cream? Who’s stopping me?  _

She gathered her purchases and headed back to the front, peering through the tall shelves to spot Adrien. She could already imagine him leaning down, telling her a pun for every item they passed.

_ Where is he? _

Marinette dumped her purchases on to the front counter, where the man eyed her nearly dried muddy arms. She turned away and spotted Adrien right where she had left him. 

He was holding his phone in both hands, worry folding long creases into his shoulders, which slouched under the weight of his father’s expectations. His mud styled hair was dry and slowly falling down, casting a long shadow over his face, hiding his eyes. Marinette watched as Adrien once again started to crumble beneath his load, lip trembling slightly. She stepped towards him, opening her mouth to say something, when suddenly his phone began to ring with a blaring alarm.

Without a thought, Marinette snatched the phone from his hands, strode back to the front counter, and slam dunked the screaming hunk of metal into the fish tank.

~

It was moments like this that made being Chat Noir even easier. 

When Adrien had realized it was already past midnight, and he was far too late to convince his father that he just lost track of time, he began to panic. Checking his phone, he saw nearly a hundred texts and dozens of missed calls from Nathalie and even a call from his father directly.

He froze, staring at that one missed call notification.

_ I’m dead. _

Then suddenly, the phone started to blare, a warning message flashing across the screen, even though the phone was on silent. 

_ I- _

Before Adrien even had time to process the alarm, his phone was snatched away. 

He blinked. 

Adrien glanced up from where he was frozen and watched as Marinette attempted to hand a bill over to the man behind the counter. The man was just as shocked as Adrien, peering into the large fish tank beside him. Adrien soon spotted why, watching as a fat goldfish avoided a sinking phone, lashing its tail incredulously. The phone continued to scream as it sank, its flashing face painting the inside of the tank red. 

Then, it stopped.

Adrien took a deep breath.

”We can worry about that later.” His lady was beside him, carrying a small bag of food and a dripping wet phone.

As they walked out into the night, being her partner didn’t seem so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry it took me so long to update! This chapter was particularly hard to write for no apparent reason and I kept changing the exact events that took place. Chapter 4 will be the last chapter and it’s already planned out and partially written. Thank you so much for the love!!! The comments and kudos are the only reason I continue to write this story! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I absorb positive feedback and spit out more writing


End file.
